Pumpkin Curry Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Today I had the honor of appearing on the Jane Velez-Mitchell show, Lunch Break Live! I was invited to showcase how easy it can be to make a quick vegan meal, and to promote my appearance at the CA Vegetarian Food Festival next weekend. 

With the first day of fall just a few days behind us, I wanted to use pumpkin. But, man, oh man, it has been at least 80 degrees out lately, so baking, or pumpkin spice anything just didn't sound good. So...I came up with a no-cook pumpkin dish that can provide all that fall flavor without having to turn on the oven (or turn to a latte!)

Vegan MoFo VII, Day 17: Curry Tofu and Arugula Salad

Curry Tofu and Arugula Salad from
The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions (page 177)

Man, I don't know about all of you, but where I live we are experiencing a late summer heat wave like we haven't had in YEARS.  Hovering around 104 since Saturday. Sheesh.  You better believe no ovens are getting turned on around here. And if I can help it, no stove either!  This recipe from The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize It! Foolproof Methods for Transforming Any Dish into a Delicious New Vegan Favorite is quick and easy, and requires no cooking.

Vegetable Curry Pockets

I admit I have been in a bit of a cooking rut lately. I haven't been motivated. The weather has been wierd, and work stressful. I have recently been a big fan of a bowl of rice or pasta for dinner. I told myself, "SNAP OUT OF IT! You've got a pantry, freezer and fridge full of ingredients that you need to use before they go bad!"

So, was born, the Vegetable Curry Pocket.

Frozen puff pastry makes these pockets a snap!

Fill these yummy pockets with any of your favorite veggies!

Vegetable Curry Pockets
A simple pocket of puff pastry, filled with peas, carrots, broccoli and curry sauce. Simple and delicious.

For the filling
1/2 stick nondairy butter or Margarine (I use Earth Balance buttery sticks)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup soy creamer or soy milk (or other nondairy milk)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup peas

You will also need
Puff pastry, 10, 6" squares, thawed according to package instructions. You can cut full size sheets into squares, or purchase packages of small sheets which is much easier.
2 baking sheets lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat such as Silpat.
A small dish of water handy to dip your fingers in.
All purpose seasoning, like Spike, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat.
Once butter is melted, whisk in flour until a thick paste is formed, continue to stir as you pour in the creamer.
Continue to cook as the roux will begin to darken quickly. Add in the vegetable broth when the roux is a nice golden yellow.
Deglaze, and continue to stir until a nice thick gravy-like sauce is formed.
Stir in curry powder.
Remove from heat.
Stir in vegetables.
Set aside.
Place one square of puff pastry flat.
Add about 1/3 cup (or 1/10 of the entire mixture) of the curry vegetable filling into the center of the square.
Dip your finger tips in water, and run them along the edges of the dough.
Bring one corner of the dough diagonally across to met the other corner, to form a triangle.
Seal the edges by pressing together with the tines of a fork.
Repeat with remaining squares.
I like to sprinkle my triangles with a little all purpose seasoning, like Spike, before baking.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and puffy.

Yield: 10 triangles

Island Inspired Coconut Pineapple Macadamia Nut Curry Tofu

Well, I'm back. Tan, burnt, rather, relaxed and ready to get cooking. Maui is a beautiful island full of beautiful foods and tantalizing cocktails served up in beautiful displays of tropical goodness. All the restaraunts we frequented were extremely vegetarian friendly, thank goodness, because I was traveling in a group of nine, and heaven knows I wouldn't have been able to talk them ALL into going to a completely veg establishment. I was astounded and amazed by the curries and stirfries, and the neverending use of pineapple and macadamia nuts.

BUT...

I also came home to a BROKEN COMPUTER! The Geek squad came out yesterday to do their thing and we ordered the required part. It won't be in for 8-10 business days! WOE IS ME! I will try to update you folks as often as possible from my office, but you all know how that can be.

For now, here is a island inspired tofu dish. DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY ALL OF THE SWEET SOUNDING INGREDIENTS! This curry packs a punch.



Coconut Pineapple Macadamia Nut Curry Tofu
Ingredients
Tofu
1 block of extra firm tofu, drained and pressed and cut into bite sized chunks
2 tbsp oil for frying (I used coconut oil)
Salt and pepper to taste
Curry Sauce
1 15 oz can coconut milk
1 tbsp green thai style curry paste
2 tbsp cornstarch plus 2 tbsp water mixed together to form a slurry
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup of pineapple chunks, drained
1 cup of macadamia nuts, chopped (I used dry roasted, but raw will work too)
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika to taste

Directions
In a heavy bottomed skillet, add the oil and heat, add in the tofu, season with salt and pepper and pan fry until nice and golden. In a seperate pan, or pot, bring to a boil the coconut milk and curry, reduce to simmer, about 5 minutes. Add in the cornstarch slurry, slowly and stir vigorously to prevent lumps from forming. Remove from heat, fold in the pineapple chunks and macadamia nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour over tofu pieces and sprinkle with paprika. This works well with a side of fragrant Jasmine rice.

Coconut Curry Tofu Bake with Mushrooms and Chickpeas

From trash to treasure.

This started out as a burger recipe, but I was getting frustrated with the texture. I put the "dough" in the fridge, and went to bed, All day at work, my mind wondered..."What can I do with that? It would be horrible to have to toss it out." Then I thought, "Why not make a casserole, with that as the base?" So I did.

To my surprise, it came out AMAZING! I might even make it again!



Coconut Curry Tofu Bake with Mushrooms and Chickpeas
Ingredients
1 15 oz can of full fat coconut milk
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 block extra firm tofu, drained and pressed and crumbled
1 tbsp yellow curry powder
2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water to make a slurry
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp veggie broth powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 15 oz can chickpeas
1 medium onion (I used a yellow onion), diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup ground raw cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
a sprinkling of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
oil for sauteing (I used coconut oil)

Directions
In a large skillet, bring coconut milk and curry powder to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add in mushrooms and crumbled tofu. Cover and simmer about 15 minnutes, uncover and continue to cook another 10. Add cornstarch slurry, mix well, cook for about 3-5 more minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, allow to cool. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, veggie broth powder and garlic powder. Add the flour mixture to the cocnut curry tofu mixture and knead together until a sticky dough forms. Set aside. In a skillet, saute the onions, garlic and chickpeas for about 5-7 minutes, or until just beginning to brown. In a casserole dish, spread the dough out along the bottom. Layer the chickpea and onion mixture on the top of the dough. Sprinkle the ground cashews all over the top, then the nutritional yeast and sprinkle the top with paprika. Bake, covered with foil, for 20-25 minutes, uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes to brown the top. Remove from oven, allow to cool about 10 minutes before serving.

I topped mine with a really simple (and really SINFUL) noochy-garlicy-creamy sauce I made with 1 cup of soymilk, 4 tbsp of Earth Balance, 1 tbsp of garlic powder, 1/8 cup of nooch, 1 tbsp flour and salt and pepper. In a saucepan, I melted the margarine into the soymilk, added the nooch and garlic, brought it just to a boil, reduced the heat and mixed in the flour and stirred until thickened. Delightfully disgusting stuff!!!

Busy Day = Easy Food

Some days are just too busy to create a masterpiece in the kitchen. Today was one of those days. Although I wanted to just kick back and order pizza, I still mustered up enough energy to make myself a nice, and easy dinner. Usually on nights like this, I just boil up some pasta, melt a little EB on it and call it dinner, but I wasn't in the mood for that. So as I tried to think of things I liked together, and stared into my pantry, I came up with this.

Out of my pantry (and fridge) I took:
1 13.5oz can of coconut milk
1 15oz can of peas
1/4 cup of cashews
1 cup of brown rice
1 tbsp yellow curry powder
1 cup of water
1/4 of a log of Lachesis Seitan'O'Greatness (sliced into strips)
a pinch of salt
a dash of pepper

Then I threw it all in a nice big skillet, let it simmer until most of the moisture was absorbed and the rice was tender and called it done. There's even enough leftover to take to work tomorrow for lunch.



Other things I ate today: Coffee, a zucchini mushroom burger on a bun with vegenaise for breakfast, a scarborough fair burger on a bun with vegenaise for lunch and above recipe for dinner.